§7ὁ Ῥουτίλιος ἐκεῖνος ἐν Ῥώμῃ τῷ Μουσωνίῳ προσελθὼν
Μουσώνιε
εἶπεν
ὁ Ζεὺς ὁ σωτήρ, ὃν σὺ μιμῇ καὶ ζηλοῖς, οὐ δανείζεται
καὶ ὁ Μουσώνιος μειδιάσας εἶπεν
οὐδὲ δανείζει
ὁ γὰρ Ῥουτίλιος, δανείζων αὐτὸς ὠνείδιζεν ἐκείνῳ δανειζομένῳ.
That Rutilius, approaching Musonius in Rome, said: 'Musonius, Zeus the Savior, whom you imitate and emulate, does not borrow.' And Musonius, smiling, said: 'Neither does he lend.' For Rutilius, who was himself a moneylender, was reproaching the other for borrowing.
Στωική τις αὕτη τυφομανία·
This is a kind of Stoic vanity.
τί γάρ σε δεῖ τὸν Δία τὸν σωτῆρα κινεῖν, αὐτόθεν ὑπομνῆσαι τοῖς φαινομένοις ἐνόν;
For why must you disturb Zeus the Savior, when it is possible to remind them directly from visible things?
οὐ,δανείζονται χελιδόνες, οὐ δανείζονται μύρμηκες, οἷς ἡ φύσις οὐ χεῖρας, οὐ λόγον, οὐ τέχνην δέδωκεν·
Swallows do not borrow, nor do ants borrow, to whom Nature has given neither hands, nor speech, nor art.
ἄνθρωποι δὲ περιουσίᾳ συνέσεως διὰ τὸ εὐμήχανον ἵππους παρατρέφουσι, κύνας, πέρδικας, λαγωούς, κολοιούς τί οὖν γε σεαυτοῦ κατέγνωκας, ἀπιθανώτερος ὢν κολοιοῦ καὶ ἀφωνότερος πέρδικος καὶ κυνὸς ἀγεννέστερος, ὥστʼ ἀπʼ ἀνθρώπου μηδενὸς ὠφελεῖσθαι περιέπων, ψυχαγωγῶν, φυλάττων, προμαχόμενος;
But humans, through their abundance of intelligence and resourcefulness, breed and support horses, dogs, partridges, hares, and jackdaws. Why then have you condemned yourself, as being less persuasive than a jackdaw, quieter than a partridge, and meaner than a dog, so that you cannot benefit from any human being by serving, entertaining, guarding, or fighting in their defense?
οὐχ ὁρᾷς, ὡς πολλὰ μὲν γῆ παρέχει πολλὰ δὲ θάλαττα;
Do you not see how many things the land provides, and how many the sea?
"
καὶ μὴν Μίκκυλον εἰσεῖδον
"
φησὶν ὁ Κράτης
"
τῶν ἐρίων ξαίνοντα, γυναῖκά τε συγξαίνουσαν,
τὸν λιμὸν φεύγοντας ἐν αἰνῇ δηιοτῆτι. "
Κλεάνθη δʼ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀντίγονος ἠρώτα διὰ χρόνου θεασάμενος ἐν ταῖς Ἀθήναις; ἀλεῖς ἔτι, Κλέανθες
; ἀλῶ
φησὶν
ὦ βασιλεῦ· ὃ ποιῶ ἕνεκα τοῦ ζῆν· μόνος δʼ ἀποστῆναι μηδὲ φιλοσοφίας. ὅσον τὸ φρόνημα τἀνδρός, ἀπὸ τοῦ μύλου καὶ τῆς μάκτρας πεττούσῃ χειρὶ καὶ ἀλούσῃ γράφειν περὶ θεῶν καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων καὶ ἡλίου.
'And indeed I beheld Miccylus,' says Crates, 'carding wool, and his wife carding with him, fleeing hunger in dread conflict.' And King Antigonus, seeing Cleanthes after some time in Athens, asked him: 'Are you still grinding, Cleanthes?' 'I grind, O King,' he said, 'which I do for the sake of living; but I do not depart from philosophy alone.' How great was the spirit of the man, writing about the gods, the moon, the stars, and the sun with the hand that kneaded and ground from the mill and the kneading-trough!
ἡμῖν δὲ δουλικὰ δοκεῖ ταῦτʼ ἔργα.
But to us, these seem to be slavish works.
τοιγαροῦν ἵνʼ ἐλεύθεροι ὦμεν δανεισάμενοι, κολακεύομεν οἰκότριβας ἀνθρώπους καὶ δορυφοροῦμεν καὶ δειπνίζομεν καὶ δῶρα καὶ φόρους ὑποτελοῦμεν, οὐ διὰ τὴν πενίαν ʽ οὐδεὶς γὰρ δανείζει πένητἰ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν πολυτέλειαν.
Therefore, so that we may be "free" by borrowing, we flatter home-born slaves and attend them, entertain them with dinners, and pay them gifts and tributes, not on account of poverty (for no one lends to a poor man), but on account of luxury.
εἰ γὰρ ἠρκούμεθα τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις πρὸς τὸν βίον, οὐκ ἂν ἦν γένος δανειστῶν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ Κενταύρων ἔστιν οὐδὲ Γοργόνων·
For if we were satisfied with the necessities for life, there would be no race of moneylenders, just as there is no race of Centaurs or Gorgons.
ἀλλʼ ἡ τρυφὴ δανειστὰς ἐποίησεν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ χρυσοχόους καὶ ἀργυροκόπους καὶ μυρεψοὺς καὶ ἀνθοβάφους.
But luxury created moneylenders, no less than it did goldsmiths, silversmiths, perfumers, and dyers of flowers.
οὐ γὰρ ἄρτων οὐδʼ οἴνου τιμὴν ὀφείλομεν, ἀλλὰ χωρίων καὶ ἀνδραπόδων καὶ ἡμιόνων καὶ τρικλίνων καὶ τραπεζῶν, καὶ χορηγοῦντες ἐκλελυμένως πόλεσι, φιλοτιμούμενοι φιλοτιμίας ἀκάρπους καὶ ἀχαρίστους.
For we do not owe the price of bread or wine, but of estates, slaves, mules, couches, and tables, and because we provide funds lavishly to cities, striving for fruitless and thankless honors.
ὁ δʼ ἅπαξ ἐνειληθεὶς μένει χρεώστης διὰ παντός, ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου μεταλαμβάνων ἀναβάτην, ὥσπερ ἵππος ἐγχαλινωθείς ἀποφυγὴ δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπὶ τὰς νομὰς ἐκείνας καὶ τοὺς λειμῶνας, ἀλλὰ πλάζονται καθάπερ οἱ θεήλατοι καὶ οὐρανοπετεῖς ἐκεῖνοι τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους δαίμονες·
And he who is once entangled remains a debtor for life, receiving one rider after another, like a bridled horse.
"
αἰθέριον μὲν γάρ σφε μένος πόντονδε διώκει,
πόντος δʼ ἐς χθονὸς οὖδας ἀπέπτυσε· γαῖα δʼ ἐς αὐγὰς
ἠελίου ἀκάμαντος· ὁ δʼ αἰθέρος ἔμβαλε δίναις· "
ἄλλος δʼ ἐξ ἄλλου δέχεται τοκιστὴς ἢ πραγματευτὴς Κορίνθιος, εἶτα Πατρεύς, εἶτ̓ Ἀθηναῖος, ἄχρι ἂν ὑπὸ πάντων περικρουόμενος εἰς τόκους διαλυθῇ καὶ κατακερματισθῇ.
And there is no escape to those pastures and meadows, but they wander like those heaven-exiled and sky-fallen spirits of Empedocles: 'For the might of the air drives them into the sea, and the sea spits them out onto the floor of the earth, and the earth into the rays of the unwearied sun, and he throws them back into the whirls of the air.' One moneylender or broker after another receives him—a Corinthian, then a Patrian, then an Athenian—until, battered on all sides by everyone, he is dissolved and broken into small change for interest.
καθάπερ γὰρ ἀναστῆναι δεῖ τὸν πεπηλωμένον ἢ μένειν, ὁ δὲ στρεφόμενος καὶ κυλινδούμενος ὑγρῷ τῷ σώματι καὶ διαβρόχῳ προσπεριβάλλεται πλείονα μολυσμὸν· οὕτως ἐν ταῖς μεταγραφαῖς καὶ μεταπτώσεσι τῶν δανείων τοὺς τόκους προσαναλαμβάνοντες·
For just as he who is covered in mud ought to stand up or remain still, whereas he who turns and rolls with a wet and soaked body wraps himself in even more filth, so in the renewals and transfers of loans, by taking upon themselves and plastering on the interest, they always become heavier.
αὑτοῖς καὶ προσπλάττοντες ἀεὶ βαρύτεροι γίγνονται καὶ τῶν χολερικῶν οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν, οἳ θεραπείαν μὲν οὐ προσδέχονται, τὸ δὲ προστεταγμένον ἐξερῶντες, εἶτα πλέον αὖθις συλλέγοντες ἀεὶ διατελοῦσι·
And they differ in no way from cholera patients, who do not accept treatment, but continue always vomiting up what is prescribed and then collecting even more of it again.
καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι καθαρθῆναι μὲν οὐ θέλουσιν, ἀεὶ δʼ, ὅσαι τοῦ ἔτους ὧραι, μετʼ ὀδύνης καὶ σπαραγμῶν τὸν τόκον ἀναφέροντες, ἐπιρρέοντος εὐθὺς ἑτέρου καὶ προσισταμένου, πάλιν ναυτιῶσι καὶ καρηβαροῦσι· δέον ἀπαλλαγέντας εἰλικρινεῖς καὶ ἐλευθέρους γίγνεσθαι.
For these men too do not wish to be cleansed, but always, in all the seasons of the year, they bring up the interest with pain and spasms; and immediately another interest flows in and stands before them, so they are sick and have a headache again, when they ought to be rid of them and become pure and free.